Rotary drum laundry machine



Ma 25, 1954 I M". KACHUCK 2,679,152.

ROTARY DRUM LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed May 28, 1951 III/11g? IN VEN TOR.

Mia-7 Kiowa Pat'nted May 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIZCE DRUM. LAUNDRYMACHINE MikeK'achuck, San Rafael Application May 28', 1951, SeriaLNoa228,660.-

I Claim;

The present to machinesand more particularly to machinesof thetypelhaving aniopenended horizontally disposed rotatable drum with anopen end through; which laimdrr is introduced and withdrawn.

Therobiectot the. inventiontisto provide a. new and. noveL arrangement,whereby a. horizontally disposed opem-ended. rotatable: drummay beprowith aibearingsupportat each end withouarequirementof. a. shait.extending axially throughout Another obiectoftheinventionis to providemnnvel-lbearingion the. openend of a.horizontally disposed rotatabledrumwhich, when in its: inoperativepositiomwillprovide free access to theinterior of thedrum. for. the introduction. and withdrawal of. laundry"Mothenobjectof the: invention isto provide an improvediclosure means iorarotatable drum enclosing. housing containing. a washing. solutionwhich. support. a. rotatable bearing for the opeirendlof. a rotary drumwhen closed and providefreeracceseto theinter-ior ofsaid drum for theintroductionlandrwithdrawalioi. laundry when 1m its opened position.

Afunthen object; of. the inventionis to provide. ahingedlclosuremeansdor the laundry introducing opming; of. a rotatabledrum enclosing housingof. a laundry machine which may be.- secured. in

fluid-tightsealing relation over. the opening. in a.

nova andnovelmannerw Qther. objeotsand advantages of the invention willbeinzpartevident to thoseskilledin the art and-inpartpointedsout-hereinafter in connection withltheaccompanyingdrawingwherein. thereis shown-by way'of. illustration and not oflimitation aprefer-redl embodimentot the invention.

Im thedrawing:

Eigurm L is; afragmentary; 'frontxview. of. a preiormroflclosuremeans-for aalaaindry, ma.- chinewoonatructedlin aocordance withthe invendon,

Figure 2 isa. fragmentary view showing. the door. of- Eigure Les-inits-openposition.

Rigure: 35 is: a vertical. sectional.- view. taken through, the: center.of. a. rotatable. drum: type laundry-machine otthetype contemplatedbythepresent invention,

Figured-is airagmentary view taken. along line IlT-JU. oLEigure3,.1ooking indirectionoi arrows,

Figure his .a fragmentary sectionalview. taken along, line V.--V.oLEigure l l'ooking. indirection of; arrows.. and.

Fi'lgureffil isu;r fragmentary sectional dew.- taken along, lineVie-v1.0a Figure 1. looking. in direction of arrows.

While the present invention may find applica-- tion. in. the small homelaundry or washing. machine art, its principal field ofapplicationwillbe found in connection with the production of thelarger machines suchasare used by commercial Iaundries,. dry cleaning establishments andother industries where the washing. or cleaning of larger batches oflaundry require a relatively larger laundry accommodating drum. In. thesmall family size washing machines the problem or supporting, thelaundry accommodating drum for. rotation about a horizontal axis is. notcritical. This is explained by the fact that. in, these machines. therotating. drums. while supported'solely by astnb. shaft. or axle,. arelimited in size,.being about one foot in depth and approximately twofeet in diameter and have acapacity of approxi.- mately only twenty-fivepounds of laundry- In the drawing, whichaccompaniesthis application,the. invention is shown. as applied to a large laundry or dry cleaningmachine having a ro tatable drum of..a depth andldiameter ofapproximately four feet. and with a capacity of from two to fourhundred. pounds of laundry. With a machine. of this larger size it willbe readily seen that it. would be impractical. to. support such a rotarydnumuponastub shaft in the manner. employed with. theaforementionedhomet'ype laundry machines, a good example of which is sold under the tradename of Bendix. In these larger. machines. the employment of an. axiallyextending shaft. through. the center of the drum with the bearings ofboth ends-has the. disadvantage thatthe laundry introducingandiwithdrawingopening. in the endof. the drum must be located. at anoft-center. point. This, therefore, requires that theopeninginthe drumbe brought into register with a corresponding opening in anouterenclosing housing all of. which renders the introduction andremoval of the laundry from the drum an. extremely inconvenientoperation. For example, it the laundry machine is. stopped with. theopening in. its. drum above the central axistheoperator will havedifliculty inreaching down into the drum toremove the contents-there.-of and if on the other hand the drumis stopped with its opening belowits horizontal axis the withdrawal of laundry therefrom will becomplicated by the fact that the laundry near the opening will beweighted down by other. laundry'above and thus also render theremovalof.the washed laundry difiicult;

The more essential aspects of the present invention: reside in theprovision of a special. form of. closure :means for an enclosing;housing? which; when closed, will provide a support for the extending oropen end of a horizontally disposed rotatable drum which is mounted atits other end upon a stub shaft in the conventional manner withconnections to a suitable driving unit by which the drum maybe rotatedat varying speeds. In practice the drum may be rotated at one speedduring the washing operation and possibly another speed during a rinsingoperation and finally at an extremely high speed for a drying operation,by which-the contained rinse water is centrifugally removed.

Before describing the details of the invention reference is here made toFigure 3 of the drawing wherein the invention is shown as applied to adry cleaning machine having a rotary drum that is supported within anenclosing housing II and for rotation about a horizontal axis by a stubshaft [2. The stub shaft 12 is journaled in a. bearing i3 and is adaptedto be driven by an electric motor l4 through a multiple V-belt drive l5. The drum I8 is perforated and in this instance is shown as havingfour longitudinally extending ribs 16 which are disposed in equallyspaced relation about its inner periphery and at its unsupported end thedrum it also has a laundry introducing and withdrawing opening I1. Inthe present instance, the opening i7 is approximately twenty inches indiameter and arranged in axial relation with the opening 51 of the drumI9 there is a larger opening :8 in the enclosing housing ii. For closingthis opening iii in the housing ii there is a door 19 that has anaxially extending hub 28 which carries a drum supporting stub shaft forsupporting the open end of the drum It! as will hereinafter appear.

At this point it will he understood that the drum enclosing housing H isof water-tight con struction and will be provided with suitable pipeconnections by which water and/or a dry cleaning solution may beintroduced and withdrawn therefrom in accordance with a timed cycle asis now employed in automatic washing machines. These pipe connectionsmay also include a suitable solvent filtering system through which thecleaning solution can be passed for subsequent higher speed as apreliminary drying operation and thus centrifugally remove any waterremaining in the laundry within the drum.

' As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings the closure 13 carried bythe housing H is of disc-like configuration and is supported at one sideby hinges 2i. Arranged in spaced relation about th opening 18 andcarried by the housing I I there are three fixed bolt keepers 22 intowhich the ends of three bolts 23 carried by the closure member l9extend. The bolts 23 are pivotaliy secured at their inner ends to aring-like member 24 which is journaled for movement about the hub which,as described above, is carried by the door or closure member iii. Inthis instance, the ring 24 is shown as provided with a radially extendedlever arm 25 by which a turning movement may be imparted thereto. Thebolts 23 are also shown as provided with an adjustable clevis 26 bywhich their effective length can be determined. These clevises 25 are inturn pivotaliy connected with bosses 2? carried by the ring 24. In thisarrangement the bolts 23 are in a sli htly elf-radial or over-centerposition where a suitable stop associated with the ring 24 will serve tohold the bolts 23 in what may be termed an overtoggle position when intheir door locking positions as here shown. With this arrangement itwill be seen that when the lever arm 25 is moved to the right or in acounterclockwise direction as indicated by arrow, the three bolts 23will be simultaneously moved from their over-toggle position and as thelever 25 is further operated to the right, these bolts will be withdrawnfrom their respective bolt keepers .22 after which the door or closuremember i9 will be released and free for opening. At this point it shouldbe added that the outer ends of the bolts 23 are slidably mounted withina loosely fitting guide forming bosses 28 that are carried by the doorl9.

- While the shape and number of ribs l6 mounted within the rotatabledrum I0 is not critical, I have in Figure 4 of the drawing shown the ribi5 as formed of sheet metal bent into channel configuration and securedat its outer edges to the interior of the drum by spot welding. With theribs 16 constructed in this manner and their sides inclined at equalangles it will make little difference in which direction the drum 10 isrotated.

By now referring to Figure 5 of the drawing it will be noted that theopening !8 of the enclosing housing II is formed with an inwardlyextending flange 28 into which an annular flange 3% carried by theclosure member 19 is adapted to extend. The flanges 29 and 30 in thisinstance are of diameters which will provide a relatively firm fit.Outwardly beyond the flange 30 the closure member I5 also carries asealinggasket 3! that will insure a water-tight seal in the housing H atthis point. It will be also noted that the opening ii in the end wallor" the drum [0 is provided with an outwardly flaring flange 32 whichprovides a funnel-like opening into which a truncated conical head 33carried by a stub shaft 34 is adapted to tightly fit. The stub shaft 34is journaled within the hub 20 by means of bearings 35 and at its outerend there is a thrust bearing 36 with an adjusting screw 37 by means ofwhich it may be adjusted axially within the hub 20. In this manner it ispossible to establish a firm contact between the funnel forming flange32 upon the rotatable drum l0 andthe truncated conical head 33 carriedby the stub shaft 34 when the door or closure member 19 is locked in itsclosed position by means of the bolts 23 as described in connection withFigure 1 of the drawing. In other words, when the truncated conical head33 upon the stub shaft 34 is in engagement with the funnel-like flange33 of the rotatable drum l9 it will in effect constitute the stub shaft34 as a journaled axially extending support for the open end of therotatable drum [0.

In Figure 6 of the drawing there is shown another detail of theinvention which relates particularly to the closure securing meansdescribed above. In this latter figure of the drawing it will be notedthat the bolts 23 are each provided with tapered or pointed ends 38which are adapted to project into openings 39 carried by the boltkeepers 22. As here indicated the bolt receiving openings 39 aredisposed inwardly in a slightly off-center position with respect to thenormal axis of the bolts 23 so that when the bolts 23 are properlyadiusted as to their length and secured by a lock nut 40 carried therebythe pointed ends 38 thereof will exert a wedging action which willoperate to compress the sealing gasket 3| carried by the closure memberIS and thus insure a water-tight seal at the opening l8 in the housingII. This will also insure a tight i 3 1 i i i fit between the drumengaging head 33 carried by the stub shaft 34 and the funnel formingfiange 32 carried by the rotatable drum l0.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose theinvention so that the same can be readily understood, described andillustrated a specific form and arrangement, it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to the specific form disclosed, but may beembodied in other forms that will suggest themselves to persons skilledin the art. It is believed that this invention is new and it is desiredto claim it so that all such changes as come within the scope of theappended claim are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is-- Apparatus for use in cleaning textiles, comprising:an enclosed liquid-tight housing adapted to contain a cleaning solution,said housing being formed at one end with a first circular openinghaving an inturned flange; a perforated drum adapted to contain textilesdisposed within said housing for rotation about a horizontal axis, saiddrum being arranged coaxial with said opening and being formed at itsend proximate said opening with a second circular opening having anangled outturned flange; a first bearing rigidly aflixed to the end ofsaid housing opposite said first circular opening; a first stub shaftaffixed to the end of said drum opposite said second circular openingand disposed within said first bearing so as to rotatably support saiddrum, power means connected with said first stub shaft adapted to effectrotation of said drum relative to said housing; a circular door forclosing said first opening; hinge means interconnecting said door andthe exterior of said housing whereby said door may be swung towards andaway from said first circular opening; a sealing gasket affixed to theperiphery of said door; a hub coaxially afiixed to said door; a secondbearing disposed in said hub; a second stub shaft rotatably and axiallyslidably mounted in said second bearing; a closure member for the outerend of said hub; an axially movable adjusting screw coaxially threadedlymounted by said closure member; a thrust bearing interposed between theouter end of said second stub shaft and the inner end of said adjustingscrew whereby may be effected axial adjustment of said second stubshaft; a truncated conical head afiixed to the inner end of said secondstub shaft for closing said second circular opening when said door ismoved into engagement with said first circular opening; a plurality offixed bolt keepers mounted by the exterior of said housing inequidistantlyspaced relationship about said first circular opening; aring coaxially rotatably mounted upon said hub adjacent the exterior ofsaid door; a plurality of keeper-engaging bolts pivotally secured attheir inner ends to said ring in position eccentric with respect to theradial disposition of said bolt keepers; and a radially extending leversecured at its inner end to said ring for turning said ring relative tosaid hub, said bolts being pointed at their outer ends and adjustable asto length whereby upon turning said ring their outer ends may be urgedradially outwardly in unison into wedging relation with said boltkeepers so as to secure said door against said first circular openingwith said sealing gasket in fluid-tight relationship thereto as saidbolts approach a position in radial alignment with the axis of said huband their respective bolt keepers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,533,596 Hinkel Apr. 14, 1925 2,066,998 Nash Jan. 5, 19372,074,508 Hetzer Mar. 23, 1937 2,105,248 Johnson Jan. 11, 1938 2,496,011Mikshel Jan. 31, 1950

